In-Service Professional Development for CSE Teachers

CSE is a topic that is constantly changing, evolving and being updated. Data and statistics change, as does language and availability of resources and programmes. It is imperative, therefore, that CSE teachers receive ongoing professional development.

Many local and country-level CSOs and NGOs offer in-person professional development on CSE. Finding out which organisations support and/or implement CSE is a good first step in identifying the training and capacity building specialists and resources on the ground.

Developing continuous professional development opportunities for teachers is key and should include:

• A balance of learning content and skills

• Opportunities to rehearse lessons from the curriculum and receive feedback from peers and supervisors

• Discussions on troubleshooting potential challenges that might occur in one’s community

(Source: UNESCO, 2018) – “International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education”)

Critical steps toward the development and implementation of teacher training include:

Step 1. Create a technical working group (TWG) to develop a teacher training curriculum and plan its implementation. This group would be responsible for the development of the training curriculum on CSE, which should be aligned with the broad curriculum framework for schools.

Step 2. Decide on a teacher training format and the implementing institution(s). another critical step is to define the training format and who should oversee its implementation, such as if SE will be delivered as stand-alone, integrated into various subjects or integrated into one broader, but closely related subject, such as health education. At the onset, refresher courses should be planned, both for teachers who were trained in-service and for those who were trained pre-service. Furthermore, it needs to be decided who is going to implement the training, such as universities. It will be necessary to budget for the training’s recurring costs.

Step 3. Develop a curriculum for teacher training: The following elements should be covered by the curriculum:

• Accurate and up-to date information on all aspects of (human) sexuality, including biology, fertility, contraception, sexual health, sexual rights, emotions, relationships, social determinants of sexuality and sexual behaviour, with gender as a cross-cutting element.

• Introduction and practise of interactive methods that address learners’ varying learning styles and support their learning (i.e. auditory, visual, kinaesthetic, etc. learning styles).

• Development of effective classroom skills, such as how to handle sensitive reactions from pupils, how to deal with privacy and how to establish mutual respect and trust

• Advice on teaching materials (e.g. films, Internet sites, books and lesson plans).

• Self-reflection by the trainee teacher on his/ her own sexuality and personal comfort or discomfort with sensitive issues.

• Development of competence and comfort in using sexuality-related language.

• Creation of understanding of the developmental process in children and of adolescent sexuality.

• Awareness of the support systems for adolescents and children, such as child protection structures and policies, and knowledge of relevant elements of the national legal system and legal requirements (e. g. age of consent, child protection, etc.).

Step 4. Implement teacher training (pre-service, in-service, refresher): The implementation of teacher training has to be planned and budgeted for, in collaboration with the institution that is going to implement it, such as universities or other pedagogical institutions.

The following questions need to be addressed:

1. a) What kind of training is to be offered? Refresher course(s) should also be planned from the beginning

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3. b) Who is going to give the training and will these trainers be trained, or what are their required qualifications?

4. c) How often are the training courses to be offered and how many days are they going to last? In the case of in-service training, the teachers’ absence from their own schools needs to covered.

Step 5. Monitoring & Evaluation. This is a critical step toward determining if the programme is achieving the intended objectives, and the effectiveness and impact of the programme. There are various forms of evaluation that can be undertaken, which include process, outcome and impact evaluations. (See the Toolkit section, Programme Design, Management and Evaluation, for more on this).

(Sources: UNESCO, 2015 – “Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Teacher Training in Eastern and Southern Africa” and WHO and BZgA, 2013 – “Training Matters: A Framework for Core Competencies of Sexuality Educators”)

(Source: UNESCO, 2015 – “Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Teacher Training in Eastern and Southern Africa”)